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GLENBURN TWP. – Frustrated by the lack of information about the further cleanup of contaminated soil and groundwater along Ackerly Creek, township officials hope a public meeting will force the polluting company to do more to reduce contamination.

Officials fear hexavalent chromium, a hazardous chemical, is under a building at the former Precision National Plating Services site. At the Friday, April 9, meeting, they will seek removal of the foundation and underlying soil.

Township Supervisor David Jennings, a vocal critic of the cleanup efforts who lives near the site, said he and other township officials have asked for the foundation’s removal for months.

“I don’t know why Precision won’t agree to do this,” Mr. Jennings said. “I believe that somehow, the contamination got beneath the foundation, and it needs to be cleaned up.”

Last month, Glenburn officials sent letters to federal legislators, including U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and Arlen Specter and U.S. Reps. Chris Carney and Paul Kanjorski. They asked for help getting more information from the Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Contamination could have begun as early as the 1950s. Precision bought the site in 1970 and continued storing chromium waste in an unlined lagoon, EPA officials have said. Precision’s attorney, Kevin Quinn, said Precision stopped using the lagoon in 1971, and chromium waste was then disposed of off-site.

But in 1994, private wells near the 45-acre industrial site began testing positive for hexavalent chromium. Precision had been providing bottled water to residents along Arch Avenue and Ackerly Road since 1978 and in 1997 made public water available.

Testing has revealed hexavalent chromium in soil and groundwater near and on the site. In 2006, soil contamination was measured at 600 parts per million. The federal allowable maximum is 60 parts per million, according to the EPA. After injections of calcium polysulfide began in late 2008, the levels dropped to 15 parts per million. Portions of Ackerly Creek continue to show higher levels of contamination than federal standards allow, despite the injections.

EPA has not released a comprehensive report on the status of groundwater, including Precision’s plans. In January, EPA officials said the report would be available in March. On Friday, EPA officials said it had not been posted to the Web site it maintains for the Precision site. A spokesman said he had no other information about the site.

Glenburn Twp. officials have complained EPA’s site is not updated regularly and hope that bringing the issues to the attention of federal legislators might help.

“They’re the people who oversee the (EPA and DEP), and they need to know what the public’s concerns are,” Supervisor Bill Wicks said.

Mr. Carney, D-10, Dimock Twp., and Mr. Casey said they will send staff to the April 9 meeting.

“I am well aware of the remediation efforts on the site and continue to press both the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that the cleanup continues to show improvements in ground water and stream quality,” Mr. Carney wrote in an e-mail.

Contact the writer: enissley@timesshamrock.com